Page 98 of Her Dark Lies

“Where are you taking me?”

“Someplace where you’ll be safe.”

“Bullshit. Let me go. Now.”

His hand is clamped around my bicep so tightly I know I’ll have a horrible bruise. I’m fighting back the panic. I can’t let him take me away from the house, away from Jack. Getting every last ounce of breath in my lungs, I shriek, a full-on scream, right in his ear. “Romulus! Remus! Here, boys!”

He jerks my arm, pulling me close, and slams a beefy hand over my mouth.

“None of that. Try it again, and I’ll toss you off the edge, and those fucking dogs, too.”

I realize we are dangerously close to the cliff. Perhaps that can work in my favor.

The dogs come barreling through the labyrinth. They see the struggle and growl.

“Help me!” I shout at the dogs and as they leap, I bite at Malcolm’s hand and start struggling in earnest. He’s much bigger than I am, but I have the element of surprise, and he’s trying to fight off the dogs now, too. Remus gets him in the arm and is shaking his dark head back and forth intently. Romulus latches onto his leg and Malcolm howls in pain. I knee Malcolm in the groin and shove, hard, pushing my body away from his. I don’t catch him square in the nuts, but it’s enough of a blow to make him stumble. The path here is rocky, and he’s unbalanced and reacts accordingly, throwing out his free hand to stop his fall.

The moment the pressure on my arm is released, I shove against him again and he’s forced to let go of me entirely. He lands hard on his back, unmoving, and the dogs swarm him. A warm spray catches me in the face. I wipe a hand across my cheek, and it comes away red, the blood pale, watered down by the soaking rain, and that’s when I see the huge, gaping tear in Malcolm’s throat.

An edging stake protrudes grotesquely from his neck. His mouth is opening and closing like a fish gasping for air, both arms are raised as if he wants to pull me into a lover’s embrace. The dogs are still growling, their sharp teeth lodged in Malcolm’s skin.

“Stop. Heel. Quit it,” I say sharply, and the dogs release leg and arm and come to my side. I don’t know how they knew I was the good guy in this fight, but thankfully, they’ve taken my side, or else Malcolm would have hurt me, badly.

The three of us stare at Malcolm. His mouth is moving still. He manages to wheeze out the words, “You. Are. So. Dead,” before his eyes roll back in his head and his body goes limp.

Fuck. Fuck!

Malcolm shot the intruder.

Malcolm is trying to hurt me.

Malcolm is in on it.

Malcolm is dead, dead, dead.

I am off like a greyhound, running back along the edge of the labyrinth to the house, screaming for Jack at the top of my lungs, trying to force the image of Malcolm jerking spasmodically on the ground, the rain washing his blood onto the slate, out of my mind.

The halls are still empty, unnervingly empty, when I burst inside, showering the marble with rain and mud. The dogs are glued to my side; they are a better deterrent than any human security might be. It’s eerie enough that I slow, willing my heart to stop pounding out of my chest. It’s not like Malcolm is coming after me. I move quietly now, watching, listening. The dogs’ nails click on the floor. Where is everyone? Where is Jack?

Malcolm’s body...spasming in death throes.

Oh God, what have I done?

57

WTF

Jack’s phone dings with a text.

Looking for Harper outside. I’ll be back in a few.

Outside?

Why in the world would Claire go out in the storm?

He diverts from the hallway to their rooms and heads down the stairs instead. Something tells him to hurry. Everything is spinning away from him.

He meets Claire, the dogs inside and at her side, by the library door. The dogs’ muzzles are covered in streaks of red. Claire is wet through, shaking, and white as a ghost. Remus wags his tail at the sight of Jack, and wiggles himself sideways to Jack’s leg. But Romulus growls at him. The bond the dog has formed with Claire is incredible. He will protect her at all cost.